Brick handling

ABSTRACT

An automatic handling of brick for assembling bricks into a standard brick pack for shipment, method and apparatus whereby bricks are transferred from a kiln car or other supply station to a transfer or blending station in a predetermined number of rows; a certain number of rows are removed from said bricks at said transfer station to reduce the number of rows for further processing at a further station beyond said transfer station; the removed rows of bricks are accumulated and subsequently added to another group of bricks conveyed to said transfer station to form a third group of bricks suitable for processing at said further station. The above process not only serves to assemble the bricks into a predetermined size suitable for receipt in trays of a conveyor used for further processing the bricks into a standard brick pack, but it also serves to blend the bricks with the objective of obtaining a uniform blend of bricks within each brick pack to be formed.

United States Patent [191 Jones 3,837,466 Sept. 24, 1974 BRICK HANDLING[76] Inventor: Robert E. Jones, 15 S. Oak Forest Dr., Asheville, NC.28803 22 Filed: Oct. 6, 1972' 21 Appl. No.: 295,613

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1967 Schlueter 198/309/1971 Fink 198/30 3,638,391 2/1972 Fluck.. 53/159 3,665,674 5/1972Bivans.... 53/186 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,077,421 7/1967 GreatBritain 214/6 A Primary Examiner-Richard E. Aegerter Attorney, Agent, orF irm-William E. Mouzavires [5 7] ABSTRACT An automatic handling ofbrick for'assembling bricks into a standard brick pack for shipment,method and apparatus whereby bricks are transferred from a kiln car orother supply station to a transfer or blending station in apredetermined number of rows; a certain number of rows are removed fromsaid bricks at said transfer station to reduce the number of rows forfurther processing at a further station beyond said transfer station;the removed rows of bricks are accumulated and subsequently added toanother group of bricks conveyed to said transfer station to form athird group of bricks suitable for processing at said further station.The above process not only serves to assemble the bricks into apredetermined size suitable for receipt in trays of a conveyor used forfurther processing the bricks into a standard brick pack, but it alsoserves to blend the bricks with the objective of obtaining a uniformblend of bricks within each brick pack to be formed.

36 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENIED 89241975 SHEET 30F 4 1 BRICKHANDLING BACKGROUND OF INVENTION In many brick handling operationstoday, new brick are taken from the kiln where fired and dried, andassembled into a standard brick pack usually tied by steel strapping,for shipment to the market or other points of retail. One standard brickpack consists of ten layers of brick with each layer including elevenrows with five bricks in each row. In many brick packs, a pair of voidsare formed in the third layer of bricks to accommodate the tines of aforklift truck.

In order to enable maximum flame penetration and heat contact, bricksare stacked in spaced groups while in the kiln and in most commonsituations, the bricks are stacked in such spaced groups on kiln carsmovable on tracks into and out of the kiln. These groups consist ofmultilayers of bricks with each layer including seven rows with each rowincluding three bricks (commonly referred to as 7 over 3) or eight rowsof bricks with each row including three bricks (referred to as 8 over3)or 10 rows of bricks with each row including four bricks (commonlyreferred to as 10 over 4"). Depending upon the density of a brick aswell as its position in the kiln and its position in a stack of bricksrelative to flame penetration or heat contact, while in the kiln a brickmay be fired and dried to a different degree. This creates the problemof how to obtain a uniform blend of different bricks in each ultimatestandard brick pack when employing automatic or semiautomatic machineryfor removing the brick from the kiln car for further processing into astandard brick pack.

In recent years with the emphasis on automation, 3P? paratus have beendeveloped to automatically or semiautomatically stack bricks into saidstandard brick pack subsequent to leaving the kiln. In one commercialapparatus for stacking bricks invented by applicatant and disclosed inpending US. Pat. application Ser. No. 153,577, filed June 16, 1971, thebricks are prestacked into discrete trays of a horizontal conveyor andthen discharged from the conveyor for further stacking on an elevatorand eventual transfer to a steel strapping station where the final brickpack is strapped. As will be apparent from the objects of the invention,appearing below, the present invention is concerned with handling thebricks after they leave the kiln or from an equivalent supply station toarrange the bricks in a predetermined size and with a uniform blend toenable the bricks to be automaticallyprocessed for stacking intomultilayered brick pack for shipment to market or retail points orotherwise.

' OBJECTS OF INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide a novel method and apparatus for transferring brick from a kilncar or other supply area to a point for processing into a pack ofmultilayered bricks. With reference to applicants prior apparatusdisclosed in the aboveidentified U.S. application, utilizing a trayconveyor,,it is a more specific object of the present invention totransfer while renumbering or adjusting the size of a group of bricks,from the kiln car or other supply area to a loading point to-enable thebricks vto be loaded onto the trays of the conveyor in rapid andefficient manner. Further included herein in such a method and apparatuswhich will enable a plurality of trays to be loaded with a predeterminednumber of multilayered bricks regardless of whether the bricks areremoved from the kiln car in a group not suitable for receipt into thetrays or by means which cannot directly feed the trays.

Further included herein is a provision of such a method and apparatuswhich will enable the use of conventional or presently availablecommercial apparatus such as overhead dehacking apparatus for removingthe brick from the kiln car for subsequent processing by automaticapparatus into brick stacks. Further included herein is a provision ofsuch a method and apparatus which may be incorporated into existingbrick manufacturing plants employing kiln cars which move on fixedtracks without requiring modification of the kiln car transportationsystem or the kiln cars themselves.

A further object of the present invention is to provide method andapparatus for grouping bricks with a desired blend of bricks which havebeen fired or dried to different degrees because of their density orposition in the kiln as well as in a group relative to theflame or heatin the kiln.

' SUMMARY OF INVENTION In one application, the present invention is usedfor rearranging a group of bricks removed from a kiln car into a sizesuitable for receipt into the trays of a horizontal conveyor used forprestacking bricks and forming voids therein preliminary to furtherstacking on an elevator as disclosed in applicants co-pending U.S.application Ser. No. 153,577, identified above. The trays in theaforedescribed conveyor are of a size which will accommodate eleven rowsof brick. Although in said application Ser. No. 153,577 each of theeleven rows of bricks includes two bricks, the trays may be enlarged soas to accommodate more bricks in each of the rows, for example, asdisclosed in the attached drawings, the trays may be enlarged so as toaccommodate 11 rows with four bricks in each row (11 over 4). As notedabove, the bricks when manufactured such as during the kiln process, arestacked in multilayered groups such as 7 over 3 or 8 over 3 or 10 over 4which arrangements are not susceptible to direct transfer into the traysof said conveyor in an efficient manner utilizing the full space of thetrays. The present invention enables resizing and rearrangement of thebricks after they are removed from the kiln and prior to feeding intothe aforedescribed tray conveyor, so that, for example, in the instancewhere the tray conveyor can accommodate 1 1 rows of bricks with each rowcontaining four bricks, the bricks removed from the kiln cars will berearranged in accordance with the present invention to place them intoan 11 over 4 arrangement for receipt into the trays of the conveyor gThe present invention may also be employed to ensure that the variouslayers of brick of a standard brick pack will be composed of brickstaken from different positions in the stack on the kiln car, andconsequently will include bricks dried or fired to different intensitiesso as to ensurea uniform blend of bricks in the ultimate brick pack. Insituations where there is no need to readjust the size of the brick asit leaves the kiln prior to feeding into the tray conveyor or otherwise,the present invention may still be employed to provide suitable blendingof the bricks so that each ultimate brick pack will have a uniform blendof bricks.

With specific reference to a typical brick plant installation (forpurposes of illustration only) wherein bricks are stacked on a kiln carin a plurality of spaced groups with each group including layers of 7over 3 (seven rows with each row including three bricks), the above andother objects of the present invention are achieved by first removingtwo groups of bricks, each group containing two layers of 7 over 3bricks from the kiln cars and placing the groups on a horizontalplatform in sideby-side relationship so as to form fourteen rows ofbricks with each row containing three bricks. This process is repeatedseveral times placing the subsequent groups of brick on the platformbehind the preceding groups so that the platform contains two layers of14 generally parallel rows of bricks with each row containing multiplesof three depending on how many groups are placed on the platform.

The platform is provided with a pair of elongated slots through whichpusher members are mounted for pushing the groups respectively along theplatform in a horizontal plane to what will be termed a transfer orblending" station. At the transfer station there is a second movable,platform generally coplanar with the first platform but capable ofmovement relative to the first platform to separate a leading portionfrom the group of bricks so that the leading portion will consist offourteen rows of brick with each row including four rows.

While at the transfer station, the leading portion of the bricks partly,rests on a third platform which is on one side of and generallycoplanar with, the second platform and is capable of moving relative tothe second platform in a direction at right angles to the direction ofmovement of the bricks along the first platform. The third platform isthen actuated to move laterally away from the second platform toseparate or remove three rows of bricks thus leaving 1 1 rows of brickswith each row containing four bricks. The latter arrangement isprecisely what the trays in the conveyor will accommodate. The l 1 rowswith four bricks in each row are then conveyed by a pusher member fromthe second platform to another station from which they are fed into thetrays of the conveyor.

Another group of fourteen rows of bricks is then pushed from thestationary platform to the second and third movable platforms andreduced to 11 rows with each row including four bricks in the samemanner described above. The three rows of brick removed in this step areaccumulated on the third platform together with the three rowspreviously removed. The above process is repeated two more times until12 rows of removed brick have been accumulated. At this juncture,instead ofnext conveying 14 rows of brick from the stationary platformto the movable platforms, only seven rows of brick are conveyed from thestationary platform to the second, movable platform. Then four rows ofthe accumulated brick are added to the seven rows to make I 1 rowssuitable for receipt in the trays of the conveyor. This process ofadding the four rows of brick to the seven rows of brick is repeated 3times until the 12 rows of removed and accumulated bricks have beenadded back into the system at which point resumption of feeding of 14rows of brick to the movable plates may begin and the above process ofremoving three rows four times until 12 rows are accumulated, isrepeated.

In situations where the groups of bricks removed from the kiln cars orother supply area need not be resized in order to fit the trays of aconveyor or other processing equipment, the above process maynevertheless be used to rearrange or blend the bricks that are beinghandled with the aim of obtaining as much uniformity as possible in theblend of the bricks in the ultimate brick pack to be formed. If it isdesired to increase the blending capability of the above-describedapparatus, an additional platform may be added on the other side of thesecond platform to remove and subsequently replace bricks or add newbricks to the system for blending purposes.

It should be remembered that the above process was described in relationto groups of bricks stacked in a supply area in layers of 7 over 3(seven rows, three bricks in each row). If, instead of the latter, thebricks are arranged in stacks consisting of layers of 8 over 3 (eightrows, three bricks in each row), then it should be noted that in theinitial phase of the process, 16 rows of bricks will be conveyed to thetransfer station and five rows will be removed from the 16 rows leavingthe desired 1 1 rows for receipt in the trays of the conveyor. Removalof the five rows is effected 3 times whereby 15 rows of removed brickare accumulated on the third platform.'At this point only eight rows ofbrick are successively conveyed from the first platform to the secondplatform 5 times during which phase three rows of the accumulated brickare added to the eight rows 5 times respectively, thus resulting in therequired eleven rows for receipt into the trays of the conveyor.

In situations where the bricks at the supply area or on the kiln car arestacked in layers of 10 over 4 (10 rows, each row having four bricks),it will be understood that in the initial phase, 20 rows of brick willbe conveyed to the transfer station, and nine rows will be removed atthe transfer station leaving the desired 1 1 rows. Subsequently 10 rowswill be successively conveyed from the fixed platform to the transferstation and one row will be successively added nine times to the 10 rowsrespectively to produce the desired 11 rows. It will also be appreciatedthat other numerical brick arrangements may be resized and blended inaccordance with the present invention. Furthermore, although in thespecific application described above, the resizing of the brick groupsis for purposes of accommodating the trays of a tray conveyor, theresizing may be used for other purposes or other conveyors not employingtrays.

DRAWINGS Other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following more detailed description taken inconjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a brick flow diagram in plan view illustrating steps inhandling brick in accordance with the method of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram similar to FIG. 1 but showing the method ofhandling bricks in advanced stages;

FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating method and apparatus in accordancewith the present invention for resizing and rearranging brick;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 3 withcertain parts removed for clarity;

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view taken from the lefthand end of FIG. 3with certain parts removed; and

FIG. 6 is a detail view illustrating how certain gates and fencesincluded in the apparatus are raised and lowered.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings in detail, andinitially to FIG. 1, the broad concept of the method of the presentinvention is disclosed wherein at station A bricks from the kiln car orother supply area stacked in layers of 7 over 3 are assembled to form 14rows of brick. The bricks containing the 14 rows are then conveyed tostation B where they are separated into a leading portion L containing14 rows with each row containing four bricks. Next, while at station B,leading portion L is subdivided into two sub-groups L and L byseparating three rows of bricks (L from sub-group L and moving themlaterally to station C. This leaves sub-group L, with ll rows with eachrow containing four bricks which is precisely what is desired forfurther handling such as feeding into the trays of the conveyordescribed above. In the next step, sub-group L, is conveyed to a stationD for subsequent feeding into the trays of the conveyor.

The three rows of brick removed at station B are accumulated at stationC and the above process is repeated 4 times until 12 rows of brick havebeen accumulated at station C. At this juncture, and now referring toFIG. 2, only seven rows of brick are conveyed from station A to stationB where they are separated into a leading portion L containing sevenrows with each row containing four bricks. While at station B four rowsof previously removed and accumulated bricks from station C (L.,) areadded to the group L to constitute a new group L containing eleven rowsof brick with each row containing four bricks as is desired. This leaveseight rows of brick at station C which may then be returned to thesystem by repeating the process rep resented in FIG. 2 2 more times. Theentire process may then be repeated, that is, removing three rows ofbricks 4 times and restoring four rows of bricks 3 times. It will beseen that not only is the desired sizing of, l I over 4, achieved butalso the bricks are interchanged into different groups to achieve adesired blending of the bricks. It should be noted that FIGS. 1 and 2are plan views and thus while they show only one layer of bricks beingrearranged, a plurality of layers may be rearranged simultaneously inaccordance with the present invention. In the specific case where thetray conveyor is to be fed with two layers of l I over 4 brick, themethod of the present invention is applied to two layers of bricks.

Theabove process will become clear upon reference to FIG. 3 which showsapparatus which may be employed to carry out the method. Bricks arebrought to station A to form I4 rows of bricks, from stacks 10 of brickson two kiln cars 12 which have travelled on tracks, not shown, in thedirection of arrows 14 to sta-. tion A from a kiln (not shown). In thespecific application illustrated, the stack 10 of bricks on the kilncars are arranged in layers of seven over three (seven rows of brickswith each row containing three bricks). Any suitable means may beemployed to move the layers of bricks from stacks 10 to station A, onemeans employed in one commercial installation, being what is termed anoverhead dehacker which grips two entire layers of seven over threebricks while on stack 10 and traverses to station A and deposits them toform fourteen rows of brick as illustrated in FIG. 3. This process isrepeated until the rear section of platform 20 is fully loaded with twolayer stacks of 7 over 3 bricks as shown in FIG. 3.

In the shown embodiment, station A is comprised of a stationary platform20 supported in a horizontal plane above a ground surface by means ofstructural steel columns 22 reinforced by diagonal beams 24 asillustrated in FIG. 4. Platform 20 is divided in two equal lateralsections by an upstanding fence 26 shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 but omittedfrom FIG. 4 for purposes of clarity. Upstanding from the side edges ofplatform 20 are angle members 27 shown in FIG. 3 which together withfence 26 serve to form two parallel guideways for conveying the bricksalong platform 20 to station B;

there being seven rows of brick on one side of fence 26 and seven rowsof brick on the other side of fence 26 as shown in FIG. 3.

' Conveyance of the bricks from station A toward station B is achievedin the first stage by a pair of pusher members 28 in the form ofvertical plates mounted on arms 28a which extend through a pair ofparallel elongated slots 30 extending longitudinally in platform 20 asbest shown in FIG. 3. Actuation of each pusher member 28 along platform20 is achieved in the shown embodiment through an associated fluid motorsuch as an air motor 34 having an actuating rod 36 connected to acarriage 32 movable below platform 20 as shown in FIG. 4. Although onlyone fluid motor 34 and carriage 32 are shown, there are two such motorsand carriages respectively connected to pusher members 28 through meansof arms 28a which extend through slots 30. Carriage 32 may be mounted inany suitable rail structure to be movable below platform 20 in a planeparallel thereto.

After the bricks are conveyed to the front section 20a of platform 20,see FIG. 4, they are then conveyed to transfer station B by means ofoverhead pusher members 33 mounted for vertical movement (as will bedescribed subsequently) on overlying carriages 35 which in turn aremounted along overhead tracks above platform 20 to be actuated by anysuitable means such as air cylinders 37 having actuating rods 39suitably connected to carriages 35. Although only one pusher member 33is disclosed in FIG. 4 there are two pusher members 33 capable ofoperating independently of each other for pushing the bricks on oppositesides of fence 26 to station B. Pusher members 33 have been omitted fromF IG. 3 for purposes of clarity. Use of pusher members 33 enables pushermembers 28 to be returned to their starting position for permitting morebricks to be loaded from the stacks 10 on kiln cars 12 to platform 20 asthe processing of the previously loaded brick continues at station B. j

By the time the bricks reach the forward section 20a of stationaryplatform 20 they will have been moved into end-to-end abuttingengagement as shown in FIG. 3. Continued conveyance of the bricks bymeans of pusher members 33 brings them to transfer station B whichincludes a movable horizontal platform 40 longitudinally aligned in thepath of platform section 20a but slightly below the plane thereof topermit movement of platform 40 relative to platform to separate theleading portions of the bricks so that each row contains four bricks asshown in FIG. 3. Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 5, transfer station B alsoincludes an other movable platform 50 generally coplanar with movableplatform 40 but projecting laterally to one side thereof at right anglesas shown in FIG. 3. In the specific embodiment shown, when the brickreach transfer station B from forward section 200 of stationary platform20, 11 rows of brick will be resting on movable platform 40 while theremaining three rows will be resting on movable platform 50.

In order to separate the three rows of brick resting on movable platform50 from the remaining eleven rows resting on movable platform 40,movable platform 50 is actuated laterally outwardly away from platform40 by means of an air cylinder 54 having an actuating rod 56 connectedto a carriage 52 on which movable platform 50 is fixed as shown in FIG.5. Carriage 52 may be mounted on rails suitably supported above thecross beam 77 fixed across upper portions of columns 22 as shown in FIG.5.

After the three rows of bricks are removed by means of movable platform50, the eleven remaining rows may then be advanced forwardly beyondtransfer station B for subsequent feeding into the tray 16 of conveyor18 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In order to contain the eleven over four rowsof brick on platform 40, a vertical movable gate 60 (see FIG. 3) islowered to the left-hand side of the group of bricks. The same may beeffected on the right-hand side of the group of bricks on platform 40 bymeans of a vertically movable gate 110. Referring to FIG. 5, verticallymovable gate 60 is suspended from an overhead carriage 62 movable in ahorizontal plane above movable platform 50 by means of an air cylinder66 and an actuating rod 64 connected to carriage 62. Similarly,vertically movable gate 110 is suspended from a carriage 112 movable inhorizontal plane above platform 40 by means of an air cylinder 114.

Referring to FIG. 6, the vertical movement of gate 60 is achieved bymeans of a stem 120 from which gate 60 depends. Stem 120 extendsvertically through the carriage 62 in a frame 127 fixed on carriage 62.Stem 120 contains a pair of spaced cam followers 122 and 124 whichreceive a cam member 126 having cam surfaces 126a and l26b respectivelyengagable with cam followers 122 and 124 to raise or lower stem 120 andconsequently gate 60 depending upon the amount and direction of linearmovement of cam 126 in frame 127. Reciprocation of cam 126 is achievedthrough an air cylinder 128 fixed to frame 127 and having an actuatingrod 130 connected to cam 126 as shown. Cam 126 is guided in its path ofmovement by its edges 126c engaging portions of frame 127 and also by aguide rod 129 slidably received in a sleeve 131 fixed to frame 127. Thesame mechanism described and shown in FIG. 6 may be employed to raiseand lower gate 110 as well as the pusher members 33 described above.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the group of bricks resized to eleven overfour on movable platform 40 are advanced to another movable platform 80situated in advance of platform 40 in generally coplanar relationship,but with platform 80 spaced slightly below platform 40. From platform 80the group of bricks may then be fed directly into tray 16 of conveyor 18as indicated by the arrow in FIG.3. Conveyance of the group of bricksfrom platform 40 to platform 80 is achieved through an overhead pushermember 90 while conveyance from the platform 80 into tray 16 is achievedby another overhead pusher 92. Referring to FIG. 4, pusher 90 is mountedfor vertical movement in a carriage 96 which is movable in a horizontalplane over platforms 40 and 80 in a suitable track under actuation by anair cylinder 98 connected to carriage 96 by an actuating rod 94. Pushermember 92 is also suspended for vertical movement from carriage 96 sothat it moves horizontally simultaneously with pusher member 90. Thus,when pusher member 90 is transferring bricks from platform 40 toplatform 80, pusher member 92 will be transferring the previously sizedbricks from platform 80 directly into tray 16 of conveyor 18. Because offence 26 pusher member 90 is vertically slotted (not shown) in themid-section thereof to receive and accommodate fence 26.

Vertical movement of pusher members 90 and 92 is achieved in the samemanner as described above in connection with gate illustrated in FIG. 6,therefore, it need not be repeated here. However, it is noted that theforward movement of platform 40 relative to stationary platform 20provides space permitting pusher member 90 to descend to engage therearmost bricks on platform 40. This space is shown in FIG. 3. In orderto provide a similar space accommodating pusher member 92 to permit itto descend between the bricks on platform 40 and the bricks on platform80, platform is mounted on a carriage 82 to permit it to move relativeto platform 40 to provide a space for accommodating pusher member 92.Carriage 82 may be actuated by the same air cylinder 84 employed toactuate carriage 42 associated with movable platform 40. This isaccomplished by providing a lost motion connection between carriage 82and carriage 42 so that upon initial actuation of carriage 82 only ittogether with its associated platform 80 will move to create a space foraccommodating pusher member 92. Continued movement of carriage 82 willestablish positive connection between it and carriage 42 to then permitcarriage 42 and platform 40 to move relative to stationary platform 20to provide space for accommodating pusher member as well as to separatethe leading portion of the bricks so that four bricks are included ineach of the rows of the bricks on platform 40 as described above.Although not shown, if desired, carriages 42 and 82 may be provided withtheir own air motors to act independently from each other.

After the three rows of bricks are removed at station B by means ofmovable platform 50, they are pushed back to the rear of platform 50 tomake room for subsequent rows of bricks to be removed. When 12 rows havebeen accumulated they may then be returned to the system in accordancewith the method described above by means of a pusher member 70 shown inFIGS. 3 and 5. Pusher member 70 may be suitably mounted for movement ina horizontal place over platform 50 through actuation by an air cylinder72 connected to pusher member 70 by an actuating rod 74. Air cylinder 72may be mounted to the main frame in a suitable manner such as throughbeams 76 (one shown).

If desired, the apparatus may be provided with a further blending andbrick-sizing capability through means of an optional shuttle blenderlocated at a station on the side of platform 40 opposite movableplatform 50 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. This optional shuttle blenderincludes a horizontal platform 102 generally coplanar with movableplatform 40 and extending alongside the latter to be moved alongside thelatter in a horizontal plane for purposes of shuttling brick intolateral alignment with the brick located on plate 40. Any suitable means(not shown) may be provided for shuttling platform 102. With thisfeature, brick from another supply area may be introduced onto theshuttle platform 102 and then moved into alignment with the brick onplatform 40 for addition thereto in order to achieve a desired blend.Conveyance of the brick from shuttle platform 102 to movable platform 80is achieved by a pusher member 104 mounted above platform 102 to beactuated by an air cylinder 106 in a direction transversely acrossplatform 102 at right angles to the main path of conveyance of thebricks along platforms 20, 40 and 80.

Any suitable control means may be provided for coordinating andsynchronizing the movements of the pusher members and the gates. Alsothe various movements of the pusher members and the gates may becontrolled and supervised by an operator who may independently controlthe movements of each of the members through push button control. Also,limit switches and timers may be employed in achieving the desiredsynchronization. For example, a limit switch may be employed to beengaged by the leading bricks when they move to the forward end ofmovable platform 40.

To summarize operation of the above apparatus, after the bricks havebeen transferred from stacks 10a on kiln cars 12 to the rear section ofstationary platform and with gates 33, 90 and 92 in raised position,pusher members 28 are actuated to advance the bricks to the forwardsection 20a of stationary platform 20. At this point, pusher member 28may be returned to their initial starting position shown in FIG. 4 whilepusher member 33 is lowered to further advance the bricks onto movableplatform 40. During this latter phase, pusher members 90 and 92 will bein their raised positions permitting the bricks to move from section 20aof platform 20 onto platform 40. Platforms 80 and 42 are then actuatedforwardly to create spaces for accommodating pusher members 90 and 92and also for separating the leading portion of bricks on platform 40from the remaining portion on platform 20a. Platform 50 is then actuatedand moved laterally outwardly relative to platform 40 to separate threerows of brick and move them to station C. Gates 60 and 110 may then belowered on opposite sides of the eleven over four remaining bricks onplatform 40. Additionally, pusher members 90 and 92 may then be loweredafter which the bricks on platform 40 may be pushed to platform 80 andthe previously sized bricks on platform 80 may be pushed into tray 16 ofconveyor 18. Pusher members 90, 92 and 33 are then raised and the aboveoperation is repeated 3 more times until 12 rows of brick have beenaccumulated on platform 50 at station C. At this juncture, only sevenrows of brick on one side of fence 26 are next conveyed from platform 20to movable platform 40. Then four rows of brick from platform C arepushed by pusher member 70 onto platform 40 to form the desired elevenover four group of bricks on platform 40. The foregoing procedure isrepeated 2 more times until all of the accumulated brick at platform Chave been returned into the system whereupon the entire process isrepeated.

It will be appreciated that the above apparatus is also adaptableto'stacks of bricks on the kiln cars arranged in 8 over 3 or 10 over 4and other arrangements.

What is claimed is:

l. A method of handling articles such as bricks comprising the steps of:conveying a first group of bricks to a first station, removing a numberof said bricks from said group at said first station, removing remainderof said first group from said first station, conveying a second group ofbricks to said first station and adding a number of said removed bricksto said second group of bricks at said first station.

2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said third group of bricks isless in number than said first group.

3. The method defined in claim 2 wherein said first group containsfourteen rows of bricks, and three rows are removed at said station, andwherein said second group contains seven rows, and wherein four rows ofbricks are added to said second group to form said third groupconsisting of 11 rows.

4. The method defined in claim 2 wherein said first group of brickscontains 16 rows of bricks, and wherein five rows of bricks are removedat said station, and wherein said second group contains eight rows ofbricks and wherein three rows of bricks are added to said second groupto form said third group consisting of 11 rows of bricks. I

5. The method defined in claim 2 wherein said first group of brickscontains 20 rows of bricks and wherein nine rows are removedat saidstation, and wherein said second group contains 10 rows of bricks andwherein one row of bricks is added to said second group to form saidthird group consisting of 11 rows.

6. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said first group of bricks areconveyed to said station in two subgroups, said removed bricks are takenfrom one of said sub-groups, and wherein said second group has the samenumber of bricks as said sub-group.

7. The method defined in claim 6 wherein said subgroups each have thesame amount of bricks.

8. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said first group of bricks areconveyed in one direction to said first station, and wherein said bricksare removed from said first group and added to said second group in adirection transverse to said first direction.

9. The method defined in claim 8 wherein said first station includes twohorizontal plates movable relative to each other in said transversedirection, and wherein said bricks are removed from said first group atsaid station by moving one plate laterally outwardly in said transversedirection relative to the other plate.

10. A method defined in claim 9 wherein said first group of bricks areconveyed to said first station in a plurality of parallel rows parallelto said first direction by means of a pusher member moving in ahorizontal plane toward said first station from the trailing end of saidfirst group of bricks.

11. The method defined in claim 10 wherein said first group of bricksminus the removed bricks are conveyed to said second station by a secondpusher member.

12. The method defined in claim 11 wherein said first group of bricksare initially taken from a supply area and placed before said firstpusher member and subsequently conveyed by said first pusher member tosaid first station.

13. A method defined in claim 1 further including the steps of conveyingsaid first group of bricks minus said removed bricks from said firststation to a further processing station and simultaneously conveyinganother group of bricks to said first station for removing brickstherefrom or for adding bricks thereto at said first statron.

14. A method of handling articles such as bricks comprising the stepsof: conveying a group of bricks arranged in generally parallel rows inone direction generally parallel to the rows of bricks to a firstlocation, separating a leading portion of the group from a trailingportion of the group, separating said leading portion in a directiontransverse to said one direction to divide said leading portion into twosub-groups, and conveying one of said sub-groups further in said onedirection to an other location for further processing.

15. The method defined in claim 14 further including the steps ofconveying said trailing portion in said one direction and separatingsaid trailing portion in a direction transverse to said one direction todivide said trailing portion into two sub-groups.

16. The method defined in claim 15 further including the steps ofconveying one of the sub-groups of said trailing portion in said onedirection to another location, accumulating the other sub-groups of theleading portion and the trailing portion at said first location,conveying a further group of bricks to said location, and adding saidother sub-groups to said further group of bricks at said location.

17. The method defined in claim 14 further including the steps ofremoving the trailing portion of the group from said location, conveyingto said location an other group of bricks and adding the other sub-groupof bricks to said other group of bricks at said location.

18. The method defined in claim 14 wherein said group of bricks whenreaching said first location rest on two platforms movable relative toeach other in said one direction, and wherein the platforms are movedrelative to each other in said one direction to separate said group ofbricks into said leading portion and trailing portion.

19. The method defined in claim 18 wherein said leading portion rests onone of said platforms and also on a third platform movable in adirection transverse to said first direction relative to said oneplatform, and wherein said one platform and said third platform aremoved relative to each other in said transverse direction to separatesaid leading portion into said subgroups.

20. A method of handling articles such as bricks comprising the stepsof: successively conveying a first plurality of groups of bricks along apath to and beyond a first station, successively removing bricks fromsaid plurality of groups of bricks while at said first station,accumulating the removed bricks until a predetermined number isaccumulated, and returning the accumulated bricks to said conveyor path.

21. The method defined in claim 20 wherein the accumulated bricks arereturned to said path in increments of the total amount of accumulatedbricks.

22. The method defined in claim 21 wherein after the first plurality ofgroups of bricks have left said one station, a second plurality ofgroups of bricks are successively conveyed to said one station and thenremoved from said one station, and wherein said increments of theaccumulated bricks are successively returned to each of the groups ofbricks in said second plurality at said station.

23. The method defined in claim 22 wherein the number of bricks in eachof said group of bricks of said second plurality is less than the numberof each of said group of bricks in said first plurality.

24. The method defined in claim 23 wherein the number of bricks in eachof said group of bricks of said second plurality after the accumulatedbricks are added thereto equals the number of bricks in each of saidgroup of bricks in said first plurality after said removal of bricksfrom said groups of bricks of said first plurality.

25. Apparatus for handling articles such as bricks comprising incombination; means for conveying a group of bricks in a plurality ofparallel rows along a horizontal path to a first station, means at saidfirst station for separating a number of said rows of bricks laterallyfrom the remaining rows, and means for conveying the remaining rows to afurther processing station, and wherein there is further included meansfor separating said group of bricks into a leading portion and atrailing portion prior to lateral separation of said number of rows.

26. Apparatus for handling articles such as bricks comprising incombination; means for conveying a group of bricks in a plurality ofparallel rows along a horizontal path to a first station, means at saidfirst station for separating a number of said rows of bricks laterallyfrom the remaining rows, and means for conveying the remaining rows to afurther processing station, and wherein there is further included meansat said first station for adding a number of rows of said bricks to saidgroup of bricks at said first station.

27. Apparatus for handling articles such as bricks comprising incombination; means for conveying a group of bricks in a plurality ofparallel rows along a horizontal path to a first station, means at saidfirst station for separating a number of said rows of bricks laterallyfrom the remaining rows, and means for conveying the remaining rows to afurther processing station, and wherein there is further included meansfor returning said removed rows of brick to said first station foraddition to a subsequent group of bricks conveyed to said first station.

28. Apparatus for handling articles such as bricks comprising incombination; means for conveying a group of bricks in a plurality ofparallel rows along a horizontal path to a first station, means at saidfirst station for separating a number of said rows of bricks laterallyfrom the remaining rows, and means for conveying the remaining rows to afurther processing station, and wherein said first station includesfirst and second horizontal platforms on which the group of bricks areconveyed and wherein said second platform is movable relative to theother platform for separating said number of rows of said bricks fromthe remaining rows.

29. Apparatus defined in claim 28 wherein said first defined meansincludes a stationary horizontal platform preceding said first platformsuch that the bricks are conveyed along said stationary platform to saidfirst platform, and means mounting said first platform for movement in ahorizontal plane relative to said stationary platform for separatingbricks.

30. Apparatus defined in claim 29 wherein said first defined meansincludes a pusher member movable over said stationary platform to pushbricks therealong, and

wherein said means for conveying the bricks from said first station tothe further processing station includes a second pusher member movableover said first platform.

31. Apparatus defined in claim 30 wherein there is further includedmeans mounting said second pusher member for vertical movement.

32. Apparatus defined in claim 30 wherein said means mounting said firstplatform for movement in a horizontal plane relative to said stationaryplatform includes a carriage, and a motor for moving said carriage, andwherein said second platform is mounted on said carriage and whereinthere is further included an other motor for operating said last definedcarriage.

33. Apparatus defined in claim 28 wherein said further processingstation includes a third horizontal platform situated adjacent saidfirst platform and wherein there is included means associated with saidthird platform for conveying bricks from said third platform to afurther processing station.

34. Apparatus for handling articles such as bricks comprising incombination; means for conveying a group of bricks in a plurality ofparallel rows along a horizontal path to a first station, means at saidfirst station for separating a number of said rows of bricks laterallyfrom the remaining rows, and means for conveying the remaining rows to afurther processing station, and wherein there is further included a pairof vertical gates movable in vertical planes on opposite sides of saidfirst station for containing the bricks at said first station duringmovement by said last defined means.

35. A method of handling articles such as bricks to arrange them in apredetermined number of rows, the steps comprising in combination,successively conveying in one direction along a path a plurality ofdiscrete groups of bricks with each group arranged in generally parallelrows with each row containing a plurality of bricks, periodicallyremoving rows of bricks from said path and laterally of said onedirection, storing in stationary parallel rows the removed rows ofbricks at a storage station adjacent to and alongside said path, andsuccessively returning to said path at least one row of the removedbricks and adding said one row to a certain one of said group of brickswhich arrives at said storage station subsequent to the removal fromsaid path of said one row to increase the number of rows in said lastdefined certain group of bricks, and then conveying said last definedcertain group of bricks to a further processing station for stacking thesame to ultimately form a multilayered brick pack.

36. Apparatus for handling articles such as bricks to arrange them in apredetermined number of rows, the apparatus comprising in combination; ahorizontal path for conveying discrete groups of bricks with each groupincluding a plurality of generally parallel rows of bricks with each rowincluding a plurality of bricks, said path having a transfer station,means for successively conveying said discrete groups of bricks in onedirection along said path to and away from said transfer station, saidtransfer station having a horizontal surface for receiving the groups ofbricks arranged in generally parallel rows, a storage station positionedadjacent said transfer station out of the way of said path, transfermeans positioned adjacent said transfer station and movable transverselyof said one direction for engaging and removing rows of bricks from saidtransfer station to said storage station, and a second transfer meanspositioned adjacent said storage station movable in a directiontransverse to said one direction for engaging and moving at least onerow of bricks from the storage station to said path for adding said onerow of bricks to a certain group of bricks on said path wherein there isfurther included at least one movable gate positioned on one side oftheside transfer station for containing the bricks during away from saidtransfer station.

1. A method of handling articles such as bricks comprising the steps of: conveying a first group of bricks to a first station, removing a number of said bricks from said group at said first station, removing remainder of said first group from said first station, conveying a second group of bricks to said first station and adding a number of said removed bricks to said second group of bricks at said first station.
 2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said third group of bricks is less in number than said first group.
 3. The method defined in claim 2 wherein said first group contains fourteen rows of bricks, and three rows are removed at said station, and wherein said second group contains seven rows, and wherein four rows of bricks are added to said second group to form said third group consisting of 11 rows.
 4. The method defined in claim 2 wherein said first group of bricks contains 16 rows of bricks, and wherein five rows of bricks are removed at said station, and wherein said second group contains eight rows of bricks and wherein three rows of bricks are added to said second group to form said third group consisting of 11 rows of bricks.
 5. The method defined in claim 2 wherein said first group of bricks contains 20 rows of bricks and wherein nine rows are removed at said station, and wherein said second group contains 10 rows of bricks and wherein one row of bricks is added to said second group to form said third group consisting of 11 rows.
 6. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said first group of bricks are conveyed to said station in two sub-groups, said removed bricks are taken from one of said sub-groups, and wherein said second group has the same number of bricks as said sub-group.
 7. The method defined in claim 6 wherein said sub-groups each have the same amount of bricks.
 8. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said first group of bricks are conveyed in one direction to said first station, and wherein said bricks are removed from said first group and added to said second group in a direction transverse to said first direction.
 9. The method defined in claim 8 wherein said first station includes two horizontal plates movable relative to each other in said transverse direction, and wherein said bricks are removed from said first group at said station by moving one plate laterally outwardly in said transverse direction relative to the other plate.
 10. A method defined in claim 9 wherein said first group of bricks are conveyed to said first station in a plurality of parallel rows parallel to said first direction by means of a pusher member moving in a horizontal plane toward said first station from the trailing end of said first group of bricks.
 11. The method defined in claim 10 wherein said first group of bricks minus the removed bricks are conveyed to said second station by a second pusher member.
 12. The method defined in claim 11 wherein said first group of bricks are initially taken from a supply area and placed before said first pushEr member and subsequently conveyed by said first pusher member to said first station.
 13. A method defined in claim 1 further including the steps of conveying said first group of bricks minus said removed bricks from said first station to a further processing station and simultaneously conveying another group of bricks to said first station for removing bricks therefrom or for adding bricks thereto at said first station.
 14. A method of handling articles such as bricks comprising the steps of: conveying a group of bricks arranged in generally parallel rows in one direction generally parallel to the rows of bricks to a first location, separating a leading portion of the group from a trailing portion of the group, separating said leading portion in a direction transverse to said one direction to divide said leading portion into two sub-groups, and conveying one of said sub-groups further in said one direction to an other location for further processing.
 15. The method defined in claim 14 further including the steps of conveying said trailing portion in said one direction and separating said trailing portion in a direction transverse to said one direction to divide said trailing portion into two sub-groups.
 16. The method defined in claim 15 further including the steps of conveying one of the sub-groups of said trailing portion in said one direction to another location, accumulating the other sub-groups of the leading portion and the trailing portion at said first location, conveying a further group of bricks to said location, and adding said other sub-groups to said further group of bricks at said location.
 17. The method defined in claim 14 further including the steps of removing the trailing portion of the group from said location, conveying to said location an other group of bricks and adding the other sub-group of bricks to said other group of bricks at said location.
 18. The method defined in claim 14 wherein said group of bricks when reaching said first location rest on two platforms movable relative to each other in said one direction, and wherein the platforms are moved relative to each other in said one direction to separate said group of bricks into said leading portion and trailing portion.
 19. The method defined in claim 18 wherein said leading portion rests on one of said platforms and also on a third platform movable in a direction transverse to said first direction relative to said one platform, and wherein said one platform and said third platform are moved relative to each other in said transverse direction to separate said leading portion into said sub-groups.
 20. A method of handling articles such as bricks comprising the steps of: successively conveying a first plurality of groups of bricks along a path to and beyond a first station, successively removing bricks from said plurality of groups of bricks while at said first station, accumulating the removed bricks until a predetermined number is accumulated, and returning the accumulated bricks to said conveyor path.
 21. The method defined in claim 20 wherein the accumulated bricks are returned to said path in increments of the total amount of accumulated bricks.
 22. The method defined in claim 21 wherein after the first plurality of groups of bricks have left said one station, a second plurality of groups of bricks are successively conveyed to said one station and then removed from said one station, and wherein said increments of the accumulated bricks are successively returned to each of the groups of bricks in said second plurality at said station.
 23. The method defined in claim 22 wherein the number of bricks in each of said group of bricks of said second plurality is less than the number of each of said group of bricks in said first plurality.
 24. The method defined in claim 23 wherein the number of bricks in each of said group of bricks of said second plurality after the accumulated bricks are added thereto equals the number of bricks in eAch of said group of bricks in said first plurality after said removal of bricks from said groups of bricks of said first plurality.
 25. Apparatus for handling articles such as bricks comprising in combination; means for conveying a group of bricks in a plurality of parallel rows along a horizontal path to a first station, means at said first station for separating a number of said rows of bricks laterally from the remaining rows, and means for conveying the remaining rows to a further processing station, and wherein there is further included means for separating said group of bricks into a leading portion and a trailing portion prior to lateral separation of said number of rows.
 26. Apparatus for handling articles such as bricks comprising in combination; means for conveying a group of bricks in a plurality of parallel rows along a horizontal path to a first station, means at said first station for separating a number of said rows of bricks laterally from the remaining rows, and means for conveying the remaining rows to a further processing station, and wherein there is further included means at said first station for adding a number of rows of said bricks to said group of bricks at said first station.
 27. Apparatus for handling articles such as bricks comprising in combination; means for conveying a group of bricks in a plurality of parallel rows along a horizontal path to a first station, means at said first station for separating a number of said rows of bricks laterally from the remaining rows, and means for conveying the remaining rows to a further processing station, and wherein there is further included means for returning said removed rows of brick to said first station for addition to a subsequent group of bricks conveyed to said first station.
 28. Apparatus for handling articles such as bricks comprising in combination; means for conveying a group of bricks in a plurality of parallel rows along a horizontal path to a first station, means at said first station for separating a number of said rows of bricks laterally from the remaining rows, and means for conveying the remaining rows to a further processing station, and wherein said first station includes first and second horizontal platforms on which the group of bricks are conveyed and wherein said second platform is movable relative to the other platform for separating said number of rows of said bricks from the remaining rows.
 29. Apparatus defined in claim 28 wherein said first defined means includes a stationary horizontal platform preceding said first platform such that the bricks are conveyed along said stationary platform to said first platform, and means mounting said first platform for movement in a horizontal plane relative to said stationary platform for separating bricks.
 30. Apparatus defined in claim 29 wherein said first defined means includes a pusher member movable over said stationary platform to push bricks therealong, and wherein said means for conveying the bricks from said first station to the further processing station includes a second pusher member movable over said first platform.
 31. Apparatus defined in claim 30 wherein there is further included means mounting said second pusher member for vertical movement.
 32. Apparatus defined in claim 30 wherein said means mounting said first platform for movement in a horizontal plane relative to said stationary platform includes a carriage, and a motor for moving said carriage, and wherein said second platform is mounted on said carriage and wherein there is further included an other motor for operating said last defined carriage.
 33. Apparatus defined in claim 28 wherein said further processing station includes a third horizontal platform situated adjacent said first platform and wherein there is included means associated with said third platform for conveying bricks from said third platform to a further processing station.
 34. Apparatus for handling articles such as bricks comprisiNg in combination; means for conveying a group of bricks in a plurality of parallel rows along a horizontal path to a first station, means at said first station for separating a number of said rows of bricks laterally from the remaining rows, and means for conveying the remaining rows to a further processing station, and wherein there is further included a pair of vertical gates movable in vertical planes on opposite sides of said first station for containing the bricks at said first station during movement by said last defined means.
 35. A method of handling articles such as bricks to arrange them in a predetermined number of rows, the steps comprising in combination, successively conveying in one direction along a path a plurality of discrete groups of bricks with each group arranged in generally parallel rows with each row containing a plurality of bricks, periodically removing rows of bricks from said path and laterally of said one direction, storing in stationary parallel rows the removed rows of bricks at a storage station adjacent to and alongside said path, and successively returning to said path at least one row of the removed bricks and adding said one row to a certain one of said group of bricks which arrives at said storage station subsequent to the removal from said path of said one row to increase the number of rows in said last defined certain group of bricks, and then conveying said last defined certain group of bricks to a further processing station for stacking the same to ultimately form a multilayered brick pack.
 36. Apparatus for handling articles such as bricks to arrange them in a predetermined number of rows, the apparatus comprising in combination; a horizontal path for conveying discrete groups of bricks with each group including a plurality of generally parallel rows of bricks with each row including a plurality of bricks, said path having a transfer station, means for successively conveying said discrete groups of bricks in one direction along said path to and away from said transfer station, said transfer station having a horizontal surface for receiving the groups of bricks arranged in generally parallel rows, a storage station positioned adjacent said transfer station out of the way of said path, transfer means positioned adjacent said transfer station and movable transversely of said one direction for engaging and removing rows of bricks from said transfer station to said storage station, and a second transfer means positioned adjacent said storage station movable in a direction transverse to said one direction for engaging and moving at least one row of bricks from the storage station to said path for adding said one row of bricks to a certain group of bricks on said path wherein there is further included at least one movable gate positioned on one side of the side transfer station for containing the bricks during away from said transfer station. 